Annealing leer



May 3, 1932.

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ANNEALING LEER Original Fil'ed Jan. 21, 1929 16 Sheets-Sheet 1s Patented May 3, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JULIUS SYLVIES'IER, OF WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO SIMPLEX EN- GINEERING COMPANY, OF WASHINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE AN N EALING LEEB 1 Original application filed January 21, 1929, Serial No. 333,887. Divided and this application filed January 4, 1930. Serial No. 418,575.

This invention relates to improvements in annealing leers, and the present application is a division of m January 21, 1929, erial No. 333,887.

In my said application'Serial No. 333,887 I have shown a sheet glass forming and annealing apparatus embodying a roller leer in which all the rolls rotate at a high speed, equal to the rate'ofsheet formation, and in which, by means of a drive mechanism governed by an electrical control system, a portion of the rolls are caused to normallyrotate constantly forward while another portion of the rolls are caused to rotate periodically and successively forward and backward, so that the progress of the-intermittently formed sheets of glass through the leer as a whole is substantially slower than the feed rate of the first-named rolls, or the rate of sheet formation. As disclosed in' said application Serial No. 333,887, the leer rolls preferably comprise a primary 'set of rolls normally rotating constantly forward toconvey the sheets on a preliminary traverse at a high rate of speed, a secondary setof revers ing rolls driven at the same rate of speed as the primary set but which are periodically reversed so that they will eriodically impart a diflerential back and orth movement to the sheets on their final traverse such that the sheets progress at a less rate on such traverse'than" on their preliminary traverse, and an intermediate set of transfer rolls which arealternately rotated backward and forward and synchronized successively with the primary and reversing sets of rolls for the transfer'of the sheets from the primary- ,set to thereversing set of rolls without buckling of the sheets; the arrangement being such that the sheets are supported by conveyor rolls rotating throughout at .a constant high speed to prevent deformation of the glass while governed in 'part with respect to direction of rotation to cause the sheets to take a course of travel of greater length and greater duration of time than requirleld by a direct travel of the sheets through t e leer at initial or sheet formation speed. The

rolls may also by means of the electrical control system be governed to regulate their reprior application filed versing periods, and the rolls may further be arbitrarily caused in whole or in part to rotateforward or backward at will to meet varying conditions of service.

The present invention applies to the 'provision of a roller or equivalent conveyor such as disclosed in my aforesaid application Serial No. 333,887, for general use for the transportation and treatment of ware of variouskinds where the treatment period is comparatively long and requires a range of travel of the ware greater than the length of the kiln, or a differential motion of the conveyor and ware to make the rate of progression of the ware such that it may be treated 35 within a leer of reasonable length. The resent invention is not limited to the use 0 the conveyor in connection with a leer in which the working action of the control system and rolls is dependent upon the intermittent ac the conveyor may be used for transporting 7 glass, porcelain or other articles or ceramlc or' other goods generally, eitherplaced directly upon the conveyor or upon trays or other holders intermittently. supplied for transport by the conveyor along or through any kind of treatment chamber or course.

The object of the-present invention is to provide a conveyor which is so controlled and operated as to permit of the movement of the ware along a desired course at a de- 35 sired speed while permitting the ware to have. a long range of-travel or treatment period without making the course of prohibitive length.

The invention will be more fully under- 00 stood by reference to the accompanying drawings disclosing a desirable embodiment of the invention. It will be obvious, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the particular embodiment shown, as many modi- 96 fications may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in the form of an electrical y heated glass annealing leer including a roller 100 conveyor, but it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to the particular structures shown for purposes of exemplifica tion, but may be embodied in any of the various types of leer or other conveyors for which it is adapted.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a leer showing the use of my invention as embodied in a leer conveyor.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of two adjacent sections of the leer at the juncture between the highly heated portion of the leer and the cooling portion of'the leer.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a detail view on an enlarged scale of the detachable roll of Fig. 3 and the bearin s therefor.

ig. '5 is a detail View showing a special tool employed in removing the rolls shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical transverse section through the leer, showing the driving mecha nism for one of the rolls.

Fig. 7 is a view looking toward the closed end of the leer tunnel.

Figs. 8 and9 are diagrammatic views showing the progress of a. sheet of glass through the first portion of the leer.

Fig. 10- is a side elevation of one section of the leer showing one of the roll operating shafts.

Fig. 10a is a sectional view on an enlarged scale on line lOa-lOoz of Fig. 10.

Fig. 11 is a wiring diagram of the electrical conveyor controlling means.

Fig. 12 is a graphic representation of the normal progress of a sheet of glass through the kiln.

Figs. 13, 14.- and 15 diagrammatic representations of the roll drivi aratus.

Fig. 16 is a detail view par de elevation showing the clutch opera mecha nism.

Fig. 17 is a view partly in section and partly lan showing the clutch operating mechanism.

Fig. 18 is a horizontal section clutch assembly on line 1818 o 19 is an end view of the (El bly.

Figs. 26, 21 and 22 are detail views on enlarged scale showing the emergency control device.

Figs. 23 and 2 are enlarged details show ing one of the master controls.

The leer, kiln or treatment chamber. de-= lining the treatment course,-is indicateddiagrammatically in Fig. 1., and comprises first an open portion 18 along which the sheet of glass or other ware '16 is advanced by means of rotating rollers 17 to the tunnel. closed or chambered portion of the leer. Vertically movable doors 66 and 67 at the entrance to 19. ch assem- The door operating mechanism comprises an upper and a lower pair of hell cranks 68,

68a, which are pivoted intermediate their ends to the frame of the leer. The bell cranks ('38 at the left of the leer are attached to blocks 69, 690, which are internally threaded and are engaged by threaded rods 70 and 73. These rods are rotated by means of wheels 76 and 78 connected and operable by means of a chain 77. The bell cranks 68 and 68a at the right of the leer are connected to the blocks 69 and 69a by means of upper and lower connecting rods 71 and 74.

The closed portion of-the leer is heated by suitable means herein shown as electrical heating units 23 and 24. This closed portion of the leer is made up of two principal divisions which may be referred to as the highly heated portion 19 and the less highly heated portion 20. Each of these portions is made up of a plurality of sections. The characteristics of the highly heated portion are the more expensive construction designed to prevent heat radiation and the closer spacing of the heating units as indicated in Fig. 3, which figure shows the two adjacent sections of the highly heated and cooling portions of the leer. Typical cross sections of the highly heated and cooling portions of thc leer are shown in Figs. 4 and 6 respectively. The temperatures within the leer chamber may be regulated as desired. but preferably range from-a mai irnum of about 1200 F. at a point near the entrance to the highly heated portion of the leer. to a temperature of about 150 F. at the end 05 thecooling portion of the leer, the temperature more or less gradually decreasing bet a and minimum, as

een ma indicated t natic showing in Fig. "l.

The ope "ion of the conveying rollers 17 in conveying the glass sheets through the leer will be des *ibed in greater detail hereinafter in refer to the control mechanism. Briefly s orth. however the sheet passes first o a series of rolls rotating in a forward 5. tion on y at a predetermined high speer while-the rolls in the principal portion of tne leer are revolving successively forwardly and then rearwardly, but at a peripheral speed at least as great as that of the rolls which move forwardly only. These alternately reversing rolls normally rotate in a forward direction for a longer period than in the rearward direction, or, in other words. have :2 en erential forward and backward motion, in order that there may be a general advance or the sheet through the leer as a whole. T order for the sheet of to pass from t "'Wttltllf] rolls to the rel M 1 me r if t a a shown) v leer on the forwardly revo versing rolls it is necessary to provide an inment of the first or forwardly moving rolls until the sheet of lass rests entirely upon the transfer rolls. e transfer rolls are then automatically synchronized with the reversing'rolls in the remainder of the leer, until the first sheet has passed onto the reversing rolls and another sheet is ready to be transferred from the forwardly moving rolls to the reversing rolls. The transfer'rolls are then automatically synchronized with the first or forwardly moving rolls (see diagram Fig. 12). This automatic syn-chronism is accom plished by contact of the glass sheets with switches 79 and 81 in a circuit 80, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and as will be more fully described hereinafter by reference to the control diagram in Fig. 12.

In passing from the closed portion 20 of the leer the glass is received. upon idler rolls 21 beyond which are located a plurality of power-operated but manually controlled rolls 22. The length of the idler section is such that a sheet of glass will entirely bridge this section so that one end of the sheet may still rest upon the reversing rolls in the closed portion of the leer, when the other end has reached the manually controlled, rolls 22.

The rolls 22 may each be operated by a motor 64, Fig. 15, which drives the roll through a chain 83, shaft 84 and worm gearing 85, the motor being started and stopped by means of a suitable hand switch (not In this manner the, glass sheets may be transferred from the leer to the rolls 22 and the rolls 22 then stopped by cutting 05 the motor 64:. I

To sum up the operation of the mechanism so far described, the glass passes-to the ving rolls of the leer,.which rotate at a predetermined high peripheral speed. The rolls in the major por tion of the leer rotate successively forwardly and rearwardly and the sheet is transferred to these reversing rolls from the forwardly moving rolls by means of automatically synchronized transfer rolls. The purpose of periodically reversing the direction of movement of the rolls within the leer, while maintaining the peripheral speed of rotation the same as the rate of sheet formation, is to, obtain the maximum annealing effect for a given length of leer, Without slowing upthe speed of-rotation of any of the rolls while supporting'the glass and thereby permitting the glass to sag between the rolls, and permitting deformation of the rolls themselves due to slow rotation. The glass is annealed within the leer by suitable heating devices, and when fully annealed it is gradually cooled and then passed-from the leer over idler rolls to manually controlled discharging rolls and thence to a dischar e station or table. Here the sheet may be li ted by power mechanism and rolled by 'hand from the table, suitable means in practice being provided. for this purpose.

In order to provide for uniform heating of the leer a special arrangement of electrical heating units has been designed, shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 3. These heating units are arranged. in two groups, 23 and 24, one above and the other below the conveyor rolls 17. Thus both the top and bottom of the glass passing over the rolls will receive heat. The lower group of heating units is preferably protected from short circuiting by means of covers 25 which prevent broken glass from the rolls from falling upon the heating coils. The units 24 are closely spaced in the highly heated section of the leer, and farther apart in the cooling section. Furthermore, suitable control mechanism (not shown) is provided for regulating the amount of current supplied to the individual units along the length of the leer in order to i'nsure'the proper-lowering of temperature from the entrance end to the discharge end. The highly heated portion of the leer is provided with solid masonry 26.designed' to prevent loss of heat, While the cooling section has a comparatively thin floor 27, supported on framework 28 (Fig. 2).

Preferably the units of the lower group of heating coils are arranged in three sections 28, 29, 30, which may be individually controlled This arrangement, shown clearly in Fig. 3, permits the sides of the leer to receive as high a degree of heat as the center. This insures evenness of glass annealing and prevents deformation of the rolls.

Beneath the rolls 17 are cleanout passages 31, 32, which slope from the center of the leer 33 downwardly and outwardly toremove doors 34. This permits the removal of broken glass which falls between the rolls.

Preferably the rolls 17 employed in the leer are of two kinds, the form shown in Figs. 3 and I being employed in the high temperature portion of the leer, and that shown-in Fig. 6 being employed in the lower temperature section. The high temperature rolls are more suitable for res'sting the influence of heat and are of more expensive material than the low temperature rolls.

The rolls of the leer are arranged'in sections, any one of which sections may be removed without disturbing the other sections. Moreover the leer itself is made up in sections,

as clearly illustrated in Figs-.2 and 10, thus perature rolls the tapered portions 37 are omitted (Fig. 6), but otherwlse the construction is the same, though different materials are used for the high and low temperature rolls.

The rolls in each section are carried by detachable and adjustable bearing blocks 38 (Figs. 4, 10, 10a, 3 and 6) which are secured to the frame of the leer by means of .bolts 39, which pass through slots 40 (Fig. 10a).

These-bearing blocks may be adjusted angularly by means, of tension bolts 41 which engage the inside of the lee-r 42, and compression bolt 43 which engages the outside of the leer. By this angular adjustment of the bearing blocks at the ends of the rolls the rolls themselves may be givena tensioning stress which tends to depress the ends of the rolls and to elevate the centers. The purpose of this tensioning or bending operation is to overcome the deflection of the rolls, especially when highly heated, and the adjustment'given the bearing blocks will be just enough to counteract this deflection downward.

The rolls of each adjacent setion are operated by a single shaft 51 (Fig. 10) which is provided \with a plurality of worms 48 meshing with gear 47, carried by the individual rolls. According to my invention each of the individual rolls may be removed with out interfering with the operation of the other rolls. The construction which makes th's possible is shown in detail in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be noted that the ends 36 of the rolls are carried by removable bearings 44 held in'place by bolts 45. The driven end of the roll is'provided with a sleeve 46 splined thereto, and carrying the gear 47 meshing with the worm 48. This sleeve is held in place by means of a nut 49.

1 A drip pan 48a is removably secured below the sleeve 47.

For the ta ered rolls at the hi h temperature end of the leer bearing blocks 41a ape employed adjacent the tapered portions To remove the roll the drip pan 48a is first unbolted and taken off, then the nut 49. This permits the sleeve 46 to be withdrawn to the right, due to the curvature of the gear 47. The bearing 44 at the left of the roll may now be unbolted and removed. Then the conical bearing 41a is withdrawn by means of special tools 5111 which are inserted into openings 50 provided for that purpose. The roll 17 may then be removed to the left. Preferably, a long rod is inserted through the roll and the roll withdrawn over the rod to prevent the roll from being damaged during withdrawal.

The general arrangement of the roll driving mechanism is shown in Figs. 6, 7, 10, 10a, 14, 15 and 16. The rolls of each section in the main portion of the leer are driven by reac es shafts 51, Fig. 10, near the center of each of which is located a sprocket 52 which is turned by a chain 52a passing over sprockets 53, 54, Figs. 4 and 6, carried by a main shaft and a countershaft 56 respectively. The sprockets 53 and 54 are caused to rotate with either the main or countershafts by means of clutches 58, 584;, shown in detail in'F igs.- 16, 17 and 18, which. clutches are operated by solenoids 57. As shown in Fig. 13, the main shaft 55 extends the entire length ofthe leer, the 'countershafts 56 being geared thereto as at 56a, and rotating in adirection reverse to the main shaft. The main shaft is driven from a plurality of mot'ors 59 and 60 geared thereto, and having pin clutches interposed between the motors and the shaft, whereby any one of the motors may be removed for repairs without interfering with the operation of the leer (Fig. 13)

In Fig. 13 portions of the leers are represented diagrammatically. The main shaft extends the entire length of the leer proper beginning with the open section 18 and ending at the end of cooling'section 20. This shaft is constantly rotating and all the rolls of the leer proper are operated from this shaft over one of the countershafts, at a constant peripheral working speed and the direction of motion will be either forward or rearward depending on whether the rolls are operated directly from the main shaft or from the countershaft. The main shaft does not extend along section 21 as this section is occupied by the idler rolls and the rolls 22 at the discharge end are not actuated from the main shaft but from the shaft 53 by means of the -motor 64, as previously described.

The clutches and clutch operating mecha nism which serve to connect each roller shaft 51, which drives a section of rolls 17, alternately to the main shaft 55 and to the counter- 7 shaft 56 to thereby rotate the rollers 17 of one section of the leer alternately in a forward and rearward direction are best shown in Figs. 16, 17, 18 and 19. It will be understood that one set of clutches and operating mechanism therefor is employed for each set or section of rolls except the first, and the descripltion of one such mechanism is applicable to a As shown the main shaft 55 is constantly geared to the countershafts 56 and the sprockets 53 and 54 are loosely mounted upon these rotating shafts, but each may be caused to rotate with its respective shaft by means of the clutches 58 and 58a. These clutches are provided with pins 100 which are engaged by fingers 101 of the crank arms 102 carried by a shaft 103 journaled at its ends in bearings 104. The shaft 103 is rotated by means of an arm 104a of a bell crank, the other arm 105 of which is engaged by the spring 106 which tends to operate the clutch 58 upon the main shaft 55; so that when no power is 

